Nicki Minaj Flew All the Way to China to Play a Scam Music Festival

Making for one seriously awkward situation, Nicki Minaj flew nearly 10,000 kilometres to play a festival in China — only to then realize that the entire event was an alleged scam.

The rapper travelled all the way to Shanghai to perform a 90-minute set at the Djakarta Warehouse Project China festival on Sunday (November 18), but upon arrival, she learned that the event was said to be fraudulent, according to the Shanghaiist.

Making matters even worse, Minaj was rumoured to be getting paid $3 million USD for the festival slot, Time Out Shanghaireports.

The two-day festival was billed as a spinoff of the Djakarta Warehouse Project, an annual event that takes place in Bali, Indonesia. But mere days before the event in Shanghai was set to kick off, organizers behind the Indonesian festival claimed the spinoff was entirely "unauthorized."

"The event rumoured to take place in Shanghai on 17th & 18th of November 2018 is an unauthorized use of DWP trademark," DWP International said in a statement. "DWP as a brand, has no association with the event."

However, this didn't stop the Shanghai spinoff from still claiming it was legit and sanctioned by DWP.

As for Minaj, though, she apparently had no idea of the growing controversy until she landed in China. Upon being made aware of the fraud claims, she cancelled her festival appearance. Unfortunately, thousands of festivalgoers had paid up to $400 for a two-day ticket for the event.

While Minaj has not issued a formal statement about the controversy, she was captured giving an apology to her fans in China. You can watch that below.